By Nigel Paine

What do James Daunt the CEO of Barnes and Nobel, Kristina Tsiriotakis, the Director of Learning and Organisational Development at Deciem Global, and Garry Ridge the former CEO of WD 40 Company have in common?  The answer is found in Self-Determination Theory which is a framework for the study of human motivation.  All three are great and passionate motivators of others. They offer autonomy, develop competence, and above all connect people together and give tacit permission for staff to work together on solving problems and overcoming challenges.

SDT research created a framework based around three related and important concepts: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. If an individual has these three psychological needs met, the research’s proven results are: an impact on their well-being, performance; intrinsic motivation, and willingness to offer increased support and take the initiative to get problems fixed. There is a wealth of research going back 40 years to support this idea. (See Centre for Self-Determination Theory: SelfDeterminationTheory.org)

There are 6 mini theories that underpin SDT, and the one I want to emphasise is Relationships Motivation Theory. The concept of relatedness focuses on the development and sustenance of close relationships at work and beyond within different communities. These connections are seen as fundamental to an individual’s well-being and performance and to the resilience of the community as a whole.  And “the highest quality personal relationships are ones in which each person supports the autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs of the other” (Ryan R.M 2000) (Center of Self-Determination Theory: Overview. nd). A supportive, constantly evolving community in the workplace or elsewhere, is the key to accelerated performance and motivation.

Daunt, Tsiroiotakis, and Ridge believed in developing their staff within strong communities. For Daunt, his community was built around the individual bookstores in the Barnes and Noble chain. For Garry Ridge and Kristina Tsirotakis it was the company itself. They saw their role as builders and sustainers of big, self-supporting learning communities.

In a profile article in the New York Times, the author, Ezra Klein, describes James Daunt’s strategy for turning round the bookstore chain, Barnes and Nobel. Daunt’s fundamental approach was to disentangle the direct corporate control of each bookstore in order to empower the managers to be able choose what to stock, based on their knowledge of the bookstore’s readers and its community; how best to display those items and how to build a great community feel to each store based on the nature of its community:

“Daunt’s focus has been devolving power to local store managers. A great bookstore, he thinks, is a reflection of the community in which it exists. A Barnes & Noble next to a thriving church needs to be different from one down the street from a high school. He has been unwinding the deals the company made that let publishers pay for placement, deals that have prevented local stores from choosing what to display or stock.” (NYT Jan 28th 2023)

Daunt’s formula for success is based on a philosophy that is essentially made up of three radical ideas.  The first was to change the generally accepted rules that governed how bookstores operated up till now. Most bookstores ‘rented’ out shelf space to the publishers so that their priority or best-selling book could be given prominence. He did this by renegotiating the power and control relationship with each publisher and revoked all those shelf-space agreements in order to allow almost complete local autonomy about which books were featured in each store.  His second was to empower his store manager in each bookstore to make decisions about what to stock and what to promote, and to trust their local knowledge of their community to decide what would work best and sell better. This meant that each bookstore was fit for purpose and was operating directly in its context. Each bookstore was therefore specifically, and locally designed to work best for the people it served.  His third idea was to play a long game. It was not about instant profit but a brave attempt to grow his customer base over time.  In some stores college students flocked to the stores to stay warm (or cool) and use the free WIFI. Daunt knows that the relationship he is building with those young people will not bear fruit immediately. When they get jobs, however, and have more disposable income they will redeem the investment he made in them as young students.  (Bariso, J. Inc 2019). He wants junior students to think of Barnes and Nobel as a second home and a community where they feel comfortable. This will encourage them to stay members of that community as they grow and mature as their needs evolve.

The other two companies similarly empower their staff, build strong communities in the workplace, and create great company cultures. The journal Inc. lists annually the 591 best companies to work for because of their great culture. These three organizations, I would argue, are not isolated aberrations, but the lead indicators of an emerging and important trend.

Essentially, the processes that are elaborated in all my posts are not peripheral but increasingly mainstream. And the resilience they build into their respective workplace enables both stability at a time of change, and the ability to pivot quickly to adjust to new environments and new challenges by using the skills of the entire workforce to resolve them.  Building strong communities and connecting and empowering staff is at the heart of what they do exceptionally well. In Daunt’s case, each bookstore is a thriving community of staff and customers. The workforce in each store has the ability to build their own unique store in the image of the community it serves.  Daunt backs their local knowledge and judgment. One store manager at a Waterstones just outside London (the failing UK bookstore chain that Daunt took over and turned around before taking on Barnes and Noble), Kurde Atfieldis is quoted as saying:

“I’ve literally been left to turn this shop into a place I think will be fantastic for our customers. The difference is almost incalculable.  I love coming to work.” (Bariso 2019)

The combination of empowerment and ownership linked firmly to autonomy and connection has not only transformed the bookstore, but its manager too. The manager’s positivity is infectious so every employee benefits and the community is happy to support these endeavours. Everyone wins.

Inclusive communities are powerful agents of growth and success in business. WD40 staff share their successes and failures with the same enthusiasm and Deciem builds strong communities that unite the store staff with those in the back office and the labs. They all demonstrate the power of intrinsic motivation and difference that discretionary effort makes in differentiating the good organization from the exceptional one.